The first part of a spring arts series in Huntingburg will start this month.

The Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement will host a variety of arts and cultural offerings in the city, starting with the showing of three movies and the live performance of tunes from the musical “Hamilton.”

“We are hoping that there is something for everyone,” said Kyla Cox-Deckard, spokeswoman for the Center for Rural Engagement. “We hope that everyone gets to enjoy these events, as well as participate in something they wouldn’t have naturally gravitated to, something that is not in their typical set of regularly selected entertainment.”

Events planned for Huntingburg so far include the screening of three movies. The first is “Roma,” which has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards this year, including best picture. “Roma” follows the life of the live-in housekeeper of a middle-class family in the Colonia Roma district of Mexico City and is a semi-autobiographical story of movie director Alfonso Cuarón‘s upbringing. The movie, which is R-rated, will be shown at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, at Old Town Hall, 309 N. Geiger St.

A gospel performance by Aretha Franklin is the basis of the movie “Amazing Grace.” The documentary presents Franklin with a choir at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles, in January 1972. “Amazing Grace” will be shown at 7 p.m. Monday, April 15, at The Gaslight, 328 E. Fourth St.

The arts series also includes a performance by the Jacobs School of Music and the Singing Hoosiers. The groups will present “Hamiltunes,” a sing-along musical experience based on the hit Broadway show “Hamilton,” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at Southridge High School’s auditorium, 1110 S. Main St.

“Even someone who doesn’t know anything about the “Hamilton” show will find this interesting and enjoyable,” Cox-Deckard said.

The events are part of larger community plans to increase local access to arts and cultural opportunities, said Kerry Thomson, executive director of the IU Center for Rural Engagement.

“The Center for Rural Engagement and the Arts and Humanities Council welcome the opportunity to continue work with Huntingburg, Nashville and Salem — three communities with different visions and shared enthusiasm around the arts,” Thomson said. “As we work together to create programming that resonates with each community, we are also developing strategies to increase local capacity around artistic and cultural assets.”

Huntingburg, along with the communities of Nashville and Salem, was selected as part of the university’s arts programming, which started last fall. The collaboration with IU’s Arts and Humanities Council will include cinema screenings, theater and musical performances, exhibits, creative writing workshops and artists-in-residence programs in partnership with local artists and residents.

Other events being planned for the three communities include touring exhibits of faculty and student work, elder art workshops, folk art exhibitions, creative writing workshops and readings and a touring revue. Those activities will be announced once they are set, Cox-Deckard said.

The upcoming movies in Huntingburg are free, but seating is limited. “In most cases,” Cox-Deckard said, “it will be first come, first serve.”